


On A Clear Day When Daedra Are Spawning

by aeriamamaduck



Series: Cyrodiil's Child [4]
Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 13:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4223745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeriamamaduck/pseuds/aeriamamaduck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still under the assumption that Martin will be crowned by the end of the week, he and Minerva set off for Weynon Priory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On A Clear Day When Daedra Are Spawning

The priest—Prince— _Emperor!_  was silent as they walked away the hills that held Kvatch. Minerva realized she should have anticipated how difficult and drawn out the goodbyes would be for him. First were the people taking shelter in the Chapel, including the priestess Oleta, who was a close friend of his. Afterwards were the refugees outside the city, who’d watched the city be razed to the ground from the bottom of the hill. Brother Martin had an exhausted, defeated look, to say the least.   
  
The woman didn’t know what she could possibly say to make him feel better. She certainly didn’t feel alright at all. Not after fighting daedra inside and out of the Oblivion Gate and feeling more frightened than she’d ever had in her life.  _I’d only ever fought other people. Not…those monsters!_  
  
Glancing at the older man, Minerva supposed he had every right to feel upset. She’d arrived out of nowhere and informed him that he was actually the Emperor’s bastard son, and that his home had been destroyed to get to him.  _I should have figured out a gentler way to tell him. But there was no time. I have to get him to Weynon Priory._  
  
He kept a good pace, walking briskly beside her. Her eyes briefly fell on the dagger at his side, and was grateful he knew how to use it effectively.   
  
Brother Martin asked her, his voice despondent, “Are you certain we’ll be able to find our way to Chorrol in these woods?”  
  
Minerva had opted to stay away from the roads. She replied, careful to keep a vestige of respect in her tone, “It’s safest this way, your Highness. The assassins who killed the Emperor and his heirs may be hunting us, now that they’ve probably heard that a Gate was destroyed.”  
  
She heard a soft chuckle from him and turned to see the priest smirking with a patronizing look. “You needn’t sound so reverent, child—”  
  
 _What!?_  That hit a spot. Minerva gave him a furious glare, forgetting her courtesies for a moment. “For your information, I am  _not_  a child. I am almost eighteen years old and have spent half that time training.”  
  
The priest’s brows shot up in surprise, and he had the grace to look contrite even as he smiled with amusement. “Forgive me. You are right, because no child would’ve closed a Gate and freed Kvatch. Still, it’s surprising that one as young as you would choose to walk such a dangerous path.”  
  
Minerva was placated for the moment. She kept on walking. “The Emperor himself asked me to find you before he died. He kept saying that my part in this affair has been ordained by the Divines, and I was destined to help bring you to your throne. That is what I intend to do.”  
  
“Indeed it is.” He looked at her as though he resented her for that. Minerva fought down a sigh, fully understanding why the man would feel angry at her for coming to Kvatch and tearing him away from his life there.  _Doesn’t he understand that I have no choice?_  
  
Moments later the priest asked, “How did you come to cross paths with the Emperor? The details of his death haven’t been made all that clear.”  
  
At that a familiar sensation of fury and impotence rose within her. “In the catacombs of the Imperial Prison. I’d been accused of killing a beggar.” She quickly said as she looked at the man’s surprised face, “Don’t worry, the accusations were false.”  
  
Clearing his throat, Brother Martin immediately said, “I did not doubt…”  
  
“Well, someone did. Or, as the Emperor said, it was meant for me to be in that exact cell. My little space happened to be the Emperor’s escape route, and the Blades brought him there as soon as word reached them about the princes’ deaths.”  
  
The man asked softly, “…My brothers?”  
  
She swore she could hear his mind working as he probably wondered about a life with three other brothers, only to know that they were gone forever. “Yes, your Highness. The Blades thought me a threat, but your father prevented them from killing me. Seeing an escape, I followed them, and the Emperor told me that he had foreseen it all. In the end…he gave me the Amulet of Kings, entreating me to find you and ‘close shut the jaws of Oblivion.’ I can only assume that  _that_  is what he meant,” she said, gesturing towards Kvatch.  
  
The priest nodded in understanding. “And did he say anything else about me? Please, I…I’d like to know.”  
  
Minerva turned to him, for a moment wishing the Emperor  _had_  said more about Martin. Most of what she knew from him was from Jauffre, the man who took him from the Imperial Palace. “I am sorry. He was killed just as he finished speaking, but…it was obvious that he had much faith in you based on what little he could say.”  
  
That earned her a scoff from the priest. “It’s not as though he had much choice.” He walked faster, almost leaving the young woman behind.   
  
Dismayed, she again thought that perhaps he was right to be angry. His life was not what he thought it was, and now he was expected to go from being a priest to an Emperor within a matter of days.  _It can’t be helped. The sooner we get him and the Amulet to the Imperial City, the better._  Minerva had no desire to return to Oblivion, and just wanted to get her life back to the way it was before the arrest.  _I’ll get my house back and my place in the Legion. I can at least ask that of Jauffre and this new Emperor._  


End file.
